O'meara Walks Out Of Shadows

Tour Veteran, 41, Finally Gets His Due With Masters Win

April 14, 1998|By Ed Sherman, Tribune Golf Writer.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Mark O'Meara saw what happened to Tiger Woods' life after his Masters victory last year.

As Woods' close friend and neighbor in Orlando, he got an up-close look at the often suffocating crush of Woods' celebrity. Even going to a movie was a major ordeal. When he and Woods wanted to go to see a film at last year's Motorola Western Open, Woods' assistant had to call ahead to arrange for them to be let into a side door.

O'Meara hardly expects that to happen to him. But winning the Masters should come with one fringe benefit. Fans finally might know who he is.

Even this week at Augusta, on the verge of winning golf's biggest tournament of the year, O'Meara still was basically a faceless golfer despite 14 PGA Tour victories. A fan came up to him at a restaurant and said, "Mark McCumber?" As if anyone could pull McCumber's face out of a crowd.

"I have no desire to trade places with Tiger," O'Meara said. "He has to make so many sacrifices in life. People say I'd love to be Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, but it's not all fun.

"I feel like I've been blessed with a normal lifestyle. I don't mind people recognizing me. I think it's flattering. I just hope they get the name right."

That shouldn't be a problem anymore. In fact, tell McCumber he's going to have people pointing at him, asking, "Mark O'Meara?"

O'Meara firmly ingrained his face in the consciousness of golf fans with his thrilling victory in the Masters Sunday. His winning 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole finally allowed him to be elevated to the game's next level of stature and fame.

It's not that he has had a bad career, as he often has been quick to say. He has won more than $9 million, lives in a $3 million house and serves as a father and coach to his two children. Not a bad life if you can get it.

But O'Meara, 41, now has gone from being a career character actor to winning the Oscar.

"Mark has been around a long time and done a lot of good things for golf," said David Duval, who along with Fred Couples were runners-up. "This completes his legacy. It proves he's a true champion."

There will be some changes in his life. For instance, suddenly people were asking Sunday if he was going to play in upcoming tournaments. O'Meara now will be a draw whereas before if someone said they had him in the field, it was met with a shrug.

"People might have higher expectations," O'Meara said. "They might say he's the Masters winner, and he should do this or that here. I don't think I will change as a person or player. I just hope I'll represent Augusta National the correct way."

Woods doesn't expect to see any changes.

"He's so even-keel," Woods said. "He has the perfect attitude. He's so relaxed. He never gets too high and never gets too low. He just kind of goes about his business."

Woods took the short road to winning a major; O'Meara took the long, long road. Born in North Carolina but raised in California, O'Meara wasn't blessed with the booming drives of Woods or the short game of a Phil Mickelson. Even after he won the U.S. Amateur in 1979, O'Meara wasn't written about as someone who was going to dominate the tour.

Instead, O'Meara has been one of those tour grinders. He has been one of the best grinders, but a grinder nonetheless.

Growing up "my game wasn't at the level of Woods and Mickelson," O'Meara said. "My game's always been one of trying to improve and there's still a lot of areas to improve on. But consistency and trying to be a winner has always been a major goal."

O'Meara has been consistent enough to win on tour, but winning had its downside. He became known as the "King of the Bs," for winning a bunch of Pebble Beach Pro-Ams and Disney Classics.

His critics said he didn't have what it takes to win the big one. One Sports Illustrated writer even wrote, "Wake us when he has the lead on Sunday in Augusta."

Well, the wakeup call came Sunday.

"I know this game has always been based on performance in major championships," O'Meara said. "I know that there have been comments about why I haven't won a major championship. If I knew, I would have solved the problem. Fortunately for me, I solved the problem. Timing, a little luck, do the right thing at the right time. That's what wins major championships."

O'Meara did all those things Sunday when it came together for him. The victory was made sweeter when Woods, last year's winner, presented him with the green jacket.

"You deserve this," Woods said.

When Woods broke in on tour, O'Meara took him under his wing. It was an unlikely pairing; a 40ish white family man and a single, multi-ethnic kid barely at legal drinking age. But it worked.

O'Meara tried to shepherd the young prodigy through the rigors of professional golf. He acted as a friend to Woods in an atmosphere where many players were jealous of the attention being focused on one golfer.

"He comes to me all the time," O'Meara said. "You know, if he needs suggestions."

But a funny thing happened in this relationship. O'Meara got something out of it too. It might have been the reason he finally won a major.

They play together at their exclusive club in Orlando. Those rounds often come with side bets.

Playing against the best golfer in the world on a daily basis, O'Meara found himself having to elevate his game. It might have delivered him to the pinnacle of his career.

"When I go to compete against (Woods), I try to get around the advantages he has and use my experience and my putting," O'Meara said. "That actually has helped me. It has brought my game up competing against and being around such a fine player."

O'Meara, who is much shorter off the tee, usually tries to get strokes, especially on a par 5. But everything changed after Sunday.